I loved everything about this novel, including its structure, which was admittedly complex, featuring a number of points of view (mix of first and third) and protagonists and time periods, all brilliantly pulled together by Soueif. I have read and re-read this and it makes me cry every time. She is adept at conveying the impossibility of two individuals successfully overcoming a volatile political reality. I suspect that some of those who found it disappointing may have been hoping for a happier, or at least less ambiguous, ending.

I had a hard time staying interested in this book. Was slightly compelling initially, then really dragged in the end. I worked hard to try to finish it, and was tempted to just stop reading in the middle (which I rarely do) and was then disappointed in the ending.

I'd recommend skipping this book entirely.

I had a hard time staying interested in this book. Was slightly compelling initially, then really dragged in the end. I worked hard to try to finish it, and was tempted to just stop reading in the middle (which I rarely do) and was then disappointed in the ending.

I'd recommend skipping this book entirely.

This book is a peculiar combination of bodice-ripping romance novel and historical fiction. The romance novel aspects are, as one would imagine, ridiculous and unbelievable. It was, however, interesting to read the political subplot toward the end of the novel to learn about Egyptians' responses to British (and, later, American) angling in the area. I'm hoping there are better novels out there that deal more meaningfully with these issues.

the most wonderful book I have ever read. Every page will keep you captivated. Old and new - only towards the end of the novel do the threads come together and what a climax. It will break your heart but don't be worried, the book as a whole and the personal stories therin will also fill your heart with joy!

the most wonderful book I have ever read. Every page will keep you captivated. Old and new - only towards the end of the novel do the threads come together and what a climax. It will break your heart but don't be worried, the book as a whole and the personal stories therin will also fill your heart with joy!

Less would have been more. I am one of those readers, who does not believe that the more complex the story, the more worth it is. The idea for this novel is excellent and it could have been a remarkable book, but it is not. The intent of the author is obvious (too obvious), but not quite convincing. Anna's diary, quaint and very much late 19th century, saves the novel from becoming a tedious harangue. My initial interest flagged after a while, and I found myself skipping pages until I came to a secion in italics.

A finalist for the Booker Prize when it was published in 1999, this novel of love and international politics set in Egypt is also a rich and rewarding mix of postmodern, post-colonial, and Victorian-era storytelling. In the scale of its romantic ambitions, it reminded me often of "The English Patient," and it cries out for a similar film adaptation to bring it visually to life. Soueif evokes several imaginative worlds, ranging from the Sinai deserts of a century ago to modern-day Cairo. Narrated from the point of view of its women characters, her story explores the relationship between the politically driven affairs of men and the sanctuary of home and hearth where women and children live their lives. Thus the story traces both the struggle for power and the strongest urges of the heart, a compelling combination.

Told mostly in the form of fragments of text - journal entries and letters - the narrative harks back to the 18th-century epistolary novel. We also get multiple narrators, mostly filtered through the perspective of its central character, a middle-aged woman living in Cairo in the late 1990s. The story she tells takes place in the years before WWI and concerns a love affair between an English widow and a wealthy, influential Egyptian man, who is 16 years older, all of it set against the British occupation of Egypt and the impact of European colonialism on a nation with thousands of years of culture and history. As the novel shifts to the present, it describes the modern-day aftermath of that period of history in the continuing interference of the West in the Middle East and the growth of Islamist and secular extremism that has emerged in response to it. Meanwhile, the domestic world of women, bound in its traditions of caring for home and children, continues to guide their energies and concerns and provides sanctuary from the political strife that surges around them.

Written in English by an Egyptian-born writer, this intricately plotted novel is set in the present and deeply immersed in the past. It is both a history lesson and a heart-racing romance that walks the fine line between an "orientalist" perspective and an attitude that represents Egyptians and their culture from their own point of view. For example, through discussions of early Jewish settlements in Palestine, the reader gets an Egyptian perspective of historical developments that were to lead to the creation of the state of Israel a half century later. A glossary at the back of the book helps with reading through sections of the novel that incorporate Arabic expressions, idioms, and historical references. Plan on taking a while to read this book - unless you intend to skip over the more demanding parts. It evokes a time and a world that is only somewhat familiar, given what we know of it from film and the media, and the book's richness of detail calls for a slower more attentive pace.

What a great idea for a novel - take two interesting, connected periods of tumult in Egyptian history, and compare them using a sweeping family saga of journals and personal relationships. Sounds interesting, right? The whole thing comes across as an unwieldly mess, unfortunately. I found myself trying really hard not to skip the "modern" passages, as they are the least interesting - and I am one who always reads cover to cover. The journals are probably the best (italics), as they are more focused and limited in scope. There are better books out there.

I had a hard time getting through this book. It just never caught my interest. Half way through the book I ended up skipping the modern dialogue to read Anna's journal. That was easy since those parts were italicised. The arabic wasn't difficult for me because I have tourist knowledge of phrases/words. Anyone that doesn't might find it hard to get through those parts. It just wasn't a book I enjoyed very much or maybe I just wasn't in the right mood for that kind of book!

Few people on this side of the Atlantic are intimately familiar with the history of Egypt throughout the 20th century. Much attention is paid to the time of the pharaohs, but the relationship of Egypt to Turkey and Palestine as well as Britain and the U.S. is a long tragic story too little told. This book wraps it in the experiences of an English woman at the beginning of the century and an American toward the end of the same century with fascinating details of family life both in Cairo and in the countryside. The descriptions of traveling through the Sinai in the earlier time period are breathtaking. This is a book I will keep to read again in a few years.